Consequences by Aleatha Romig

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Consequences by Aleatha Romig is a dark psychological thriller but with a somewhat twisted romance. It is an intense and emotional read full of secrets and revenge. I can absolutely guarantee that it will completely blow your mind. You might even hate it one moment and love it the next—Oh yes, I am talking about you Anthony Rawlings. I can’t even comprehend how many times I wanted to kill him for what he did to Claire. It will leave you angry, confused, disgusted, scared, emotionally drained, and wanting more. Not everything is as it seems. Love or revenge, which one would you choose?
Not only did this book leave me in emotional turmoil over the last few days, I was not able to stop thinking about it. I hated Anthony for what he did to Claire—all the emotional and physical abuse made me sick. How could anyone come to love this monster? But as I started to progress through the book and into it's sequel, Truth , I started to sympathize for him. It's that kind of story-telling that makes me want to applaud Aleatha Romig for her genius. There is no such thing as black or white, just areas that are gray. Claire made me so angry because while she was kidnapped, she never tried to escape. She just listened to Anthony and followed his directions and rules. How anyone could remain sane in his company will forever be a complete mystery to me.

“You are free to choose, but you are not free to alter the consequences of your decisions.” ― Ezra Taft Benson

The most surprising thing that came out of this is that Anthony begins to realize that he loves Claire. Wait, what?! That's right. He falls in love with Claire, slowly but surely, and she does as well. What's so heartbreaking about this is that while this may remain true, Anthony has been keeping a huge secret. A secret that will forever shatter Claire's love and belief in him forever. The ending of the book completely blew me away. The betrayal was just astounding! Even though Consequences was not my favorite book in the series (Truth is!), it was still an absolutely amazing book. All the ratings and reviews were completely justified and now I understand why. As a result of reading this series, I am now an fan of Aleatha Romig! Overall, this was a fantastic book. Highly recommended!

Rating: ★★★★★

Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway

“We all paint on a face to show the world," Nicholas replies philosophically. "For some of us, that's quite literal.”

Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway has to be one of the best book that I've read in 2013 so far. I'm absolutely in love with everything – the characters, romance, plot, everything. I never thought that I would find someone like Nicholas to be sexy... but he really is. He is the embodiment of a man who knows what he wants, possessive of Freda, and at the same time, a very broken man. I am instantly reminded of Chris Merit from If I Were You . As readers, we watch the relationship between Freda and Nicholas grow from next door neighbors to best friends, and finally best friends to lovers. Freda knew from the very beginning that if she gave her heart to Nicholas, he would somehow break it in the end. I don't think I've cried so much over a book ever since The Sweet Gum Tree . But regardless of that, Painted Faces was a wonderful and unique romance that I'm glad to have the pleasure to read. Freda and Nicholas are by far my favorite characters and couple!

Freda, also known as Fred, is our heroine. She doesn't have a filter and some of the things that blurts out of her mouth are sometimes funny and at most offensive. But Nicholas finds her charming and hilarious from their first encounter.

“He recalls their first meeting, she'd been soaked from the rain and frustrated, but she'd still shone for him that day, and made him laugh. That's what caught him, he thinks to himself, her unending humour, how she could render the world both light and dark with a simple joke.”

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I would say Nicholas fell in love with Freda, without realizing it, the moment he met her – slowly if not surely. To him, she was different – she was the pureness and light in his life. Freda is also very shy and insecure about herself. She has low self-esteem and my heart just broke every time she mentions something offhandedly about her image. Nicholas, of course, tells her that she is beautiful and I do believe that he means that she is beautiful inside and out to him.

Nicholas Turner is our hero who also happens to be a world traveling cabaret performer. The big surprise is that he's a performer who dresses up as a woman while doing his act – he is a drag queen known as the name Vivica Blue. Rest assured, he is 100% straight and I just find that fascinating. The reason why he still does this is his deep dark secret and I will do him the honor of not saying it in my review. Please read to find out! Nicholas is such a character. His reason for being the way he is just so sad. He sufferes from being very happy in one moment and very sad the next. I say it's due to being both lonely and depressed.

“You'll always be my friend, won't you Fred? Don't let me fuck this up. I need you in my life now. I need the golden eyed girl who can make me smile.”

The moment Freda realizes that she is in love with Nicholas was just so heartbreaking. Every moment that she has been with him has slowly solidify her love and feelings for him. Freda knows that Nicholas will break her heart and it's undeniable. Their two nights in Edinburgh was one of the sexiest and heart-wrenching moment in the entire book.

“I love him because he makes me laugh when I don't feel like laughing. I love him because he challenges my view of what a man is. I love him because I know I shouldn't love him and that he'll break my heart. I love him because he's a complete and total anomaly. I love him because I want to kill the sadness inside him more than I want anything else in the world.”

I loved these two characters so much and I wanted them to find a happy ending together. The question is, will Nicholas throw Freda's love away or will he accept it in the end? Painted Faces by L.H. Cosway was indeed an unconventional love story between two beings who are broken – Nicholas was more literal. It was lovely, sensual, and very beautiful. I don't think I can ever forget this story and the meaning behind it. Who are we, as society, to judge other people based on appearances? There is more than meets the eye and never judge a book by it's cover has never been more apparent to me. Highly recommended!

Rating: ★★★★★

Blood Flows Deep in the Empire by N. Isabelle Blanco

I honestly never expected how erotic this read was because Dyletri was one dirty talking man. I can't explain how dynamic his relationship with Ismini was. I guess you can call it lust at first sight because they were attracted to each other from the beginning and it became love in the end. Blood Flows Deep in the Empire is the first paranormal erotic romance from debut author N. Isabelle Blanco and it was seriously hot, sexy and I just loved Dyletri talking dirty to Ismini. Their sex scenes though—they were incredibly erotic and steamy. It reminded me of Larissa Ione's Demonica series – which was another reason why I liked it. All of the other gods were snarky and very sarcastic towards each other so that was interesting to read.

Ismini was a very likeable heroine and there were moments where I sympathized with her. She was about to be sacrificed by her own mate in order for him to save some other woman. If Ismini is not sacrificed by a certain date, then the Fates would wreak havoc on the universe. Not a pretty scenario at all. Thankfully, she had two very good friends with her: Eve and Soleria. These girls were fiesty and very upfront of what they thought was right and wrong. Ismini, Eve, and Soleria were described as very attractive women and I'm sure that's true because Dyletri, Zeniel, and Ian only have eyes for them.

In the end, Blood Flows Deep in the Empire was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to more from this author! Not to mention, Dyletri and Ismini's mating ritual simply burned up the pages. Anyway, I am excitedly waiting for the following books: Eve and Zeniel/Mavrak (God of Tranquility/Vengeance), Crius (God of the Underworld) and Dimithinia, Nylicia (Watcher of Destinies) and Cy (I'm pretty sure he's a seer or someone who sees the future), and Soleria and Ian (God of the Hunt).

*This ARC was generously provided by the author and publisher for an honest review*

Rating: ★★★★☆

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I bloody freaking loved this book!

I knew Alex was "special" for a reason and I'm glad that I was able to guess what she is. Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout is basically the love child of the Vampire Academy series and the Percy Jackson series. I'm not even joking. Alexandria Andros is the heroine of this series and let me just tell you this: She is KICK ASS, funny, witty, and is also extremely relatable. I felt so much sympathy for her throughout the entire book... but at the same time, I wanted her to grow stronger and become something amazing!

Aiden St. Delphi happens to be Alex's love interest and oh boy, was it definitely forbidden. The forbidden love stems from the fact that these characters live in a world where they are descendants of Greek Gods. Aiden is a pure-blood while Alex is a half-blood. Half-bloods are those who are born from mortal and pure-blood parents and there is a law that forbids half-bloods from romancing with pure-bloods. So yes, forbidden love factor? Check! It's very similar to Rose and Dimitri's situation from The Vampire Academy series. But even though I did love Aiden and Alex's chemistry together... the one character whom I'm actually very intrigued about is no other than SETH! Oh man. I know, I know. Not another love triangle again, right?! Well.... this is actually different and you will eventually see why. A love that is FATED or one that is FORBIDDEN. I wonder who Alex will pick in the end.

The thing I loved most about this book was the many twists and surprises throughout the book. It kept me very interested and wanting more! (view spoiler)[The fact that Alex's mom turned out to be NOT dead was a huge surprise for me. She had become a daimon instead. (hide spoiler)] Daimons are beings that had originated as pure-bloods... but because they chose to drink the Aether (I suppose it's a special elixir in the blood) from either the pure-bloods or half-bloods, they essentially become "monsters." Monsters with incredible strength and magic. I'm not going to go into much detail, but there is a school where half-bloods and pure-bloods attend so that they can fight and destroy daimons. After being attacked by a daimon, Alex decides to go back to the covenant and try to train herself to become a Sentinel.

Overall, I'm truly glad that I was able to read this book. I am definitely hooked! The Covenant series is everything that I've wanted in a YA novel and more. I am not disappointed and I highly recommend this book! Looking forward to the next book, Pure, and I can't wait for Deity in November!

Rating: ★★★★★

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

“You can’t turn love on and off like a light switch, no matter how hard you try. All you can do is wall it off, one brick at a time, until you’ve created an impenetrable fortress around your emotions. And once that fortress is built, you camouflage it so well that even you can’t see it anymore.”

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred is a heartbreaking love story between two people who have loved one another since they were children. But due to certain circumstances, Alix and Nick's love for one another was also the reason that eventually tore them apart. Told from the first point of view, Alix first met Nick when she was only eight years old and he was ten years old. Spanning a total of nine years, the first part of the book essentially tells us how their friendship formed.

Coming from two completely different worlds, Alix is a daughter from a well-respected family while Nick is the son of Frank Anderson who is often drunk and owns the salvage yard. While accompanying the Judge, Alix's grandfather, she ends up meeting and befriending Nick with just a tin can of bee balm. The start of their relationship was absolutely beautiful and heartrending once you look at the whole picture. Nick has always believed that Alix deserved someone who was much better than him. But at the same time, the possibility of living a life without her was just not possible. The same would of course be said of Alix.

“There was only one boy I wanted, and I lived for the times when I could be alone with him. It was simple. When I was with Nick, I was happy. When I wasn't, I was restless and miserable.”

As Nick and Alix grew older, their love for one another was undeniable and it was getting harder and harder to resist. I can honestly say that I loved how realistic their relationship was. It wasn't fast-pace or love at first sight. It was a slow progress through the years until finally they both started realize it. But alas, as you know from the synopsis, their is a huge twist in this novel. One in which involves Nick's father being shot dead and Nick leaving Alix for fifteen years. Just thinking about their last scene together brings about tears to my eyes.

“To my surprise, Nick reached under his shirt and pulled out the half-heart pendant. With his gaze fixed on mine, he slid the chain over my head. “No one should have to go through life with only half a heart,” he whispered.”

In my opinion, this is definitely one of the most heartbreaking and sweetest romances that I have read in awhile. Even though there was so much pain and lies between Nick and Alix, their love for one another still shined through. It wasn't perfect, but in the end, everything did work out one way or another. This is what I call true love. Overall, so many tears came out for this book and I can say that they were all worthy tears.

Rating: ★★★★★